I read a children’s book that featured a man whose bed was too short. No matter how he squirmed or twisted, some part of him was off the bed. I thought of this when observing the tensions and struggles of our mayor, City Council, School Committee and school administration to fully fund our schools and the many departments in the city. No matter how we twist and turn, there is not enough money in Greenfield and we can’t fix that by ourselves. Our local money supply is too short.

So what to do? First is to recognize that we all want the same things for our children and town and the tensions come from not having the resources we need, so I hope we can stop blaming each other.

Second is to recognize that we are in the same boat as many if not most of the small towns and cities across the state, and some larger ones as well. We feel it is our problem alone, but it is more accurately a problem felt by many, largely created by the state. We are among the three or four wealthiest states in one of the wealthiest countries in the history of the world, but we are choosing to underfund our schools and public works through the choices we make. For example, much of the wealth in Massachusetts stays in private pockets due to our flat income tax which means that money is not available for our public needs. When the public voted for the fair share amendment, to address this situation the governor promptly gave back close to a billion dollars to the wealthy, thumbing her nose at the voters. That’s a choice that keeps us underfunded.

The Legislature has adopted a funding formula for schools that leaves two thirds of districts underfunded and determines how much cities and towns are able to pay based on property taxes, so for relatively poor towns like Greenfield, we are paying every penny we can but it’s nowhere near enough. We then tie ourselves in knots, either taking money from other departments as we did a couple of years ago or choosing not to fully fund the schools as we are maybe doing this year. Neither is the right answer. The answer is a bigger bed.

Add to that the greed of the insurance industry, which has raised its rates to insure our public employees, including school teachers, by double digits, which will cost the district nearly $2 million dollars more this year (the amount of additional money they have asked for). We could reduce our insurance costs by millions of dollars a year for the city of Greenfield by adopting a single-payer insurance system that has been used successfully by more than 30 countries around the world, but the Legislature has rejected this for more than 20 years, even though voters around the state have made clear it is what they want.

The most practical answers I can come up with involve first, recognizing that we can’t solve this ourselves; we don’t have enough money, locally, to fund everything. Second, reaching out and joining with the many other struggling towns and cities across the state to demand more from our Legislature. Our local legislators get it, but their voices are not loud enough. We have to help them to be louder in demanding more of our tax dollars go to supporting the public.

Third, Raise Up Massachusetts is launching a campaign to raise taxes on corporations that hide their immense profits overseas, in mailbox headquarters in places like the Cayman Islands. They don’t really do business there, but they pretend they do so they evade paying taxes on overseas business. Most other New England states tax these corporate profits at a rate of 50 percent. Massachusetts taxes these profits at five percent. That’s hundreds of millions of dollars we can’t spend on schools, roads, health care and food for those who truly need it. We can join Raise Up Massachusetts in this fair share campaign.

Fourth, put pressure on our Legislature to pass legislation for single-payer insurance. Why should our health care depend on whether it makes money for someone else.

This is just a starter set, but it starts with acknowledging we need a larger bed. We must work with others to make it happen and I hope that can happen here at home.

Doug Selwyn lives in Greenfield.